Buddy Brown is hearing from a lot of schools these days, many of whom have offered, and he hasn't been able to narrow things down yet.

While the Williamstown (N.J.) linebacker doesn't have any favorites he does admit that Rutgers has a unique place on his list because of their proximity to home and how much love they've shown him over the course of the recruiting process.

How did Greg Schiano's departure affect him and will Brown still give the Knights major consideration?

"At first it bothered me (Schiano leaving) but after sitting down and thinking about it I realized he had to do what's best for him and his family," he explained.

"Honestly, he never would have left for another college job but when the NFL started calling it was a dream. It's more money. It was the best decision for him and his family."

Did Rutgers' chances with Brown take a big hit when Schiano made that decision?

"At first I wasn't sure," he said. "I wanted to see who they hired. I got to meet Coach (Kyle) Flood (on Sunday). I went up to Rutgers for the Syracuse (basketball) game. That kind of solidified where Rutgers stands. It put them in good standing. I'm excited to see what they do."

That said, plenty of other schools have a good shot at the 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker.

"I can't say I have any favorites," he said. "I was talking about Rutgers standing out because it's the home state school and they've shown the most love.

"I want to try to trim it down to eight eventually. Hopefully I'll do that before June."

Brown plans to be busy in the future. He said he "definitely" wants to visit Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina.

"Those are three schools I really want to get out and see," he noted. "I'm very interested in them.

"I want to get out to South Carolina one more time. I'm trying to hit Miami, too, because that's another school i want to go see. It's going to be hard to see every school I want to."